The war drums of Qing Province beat with a low, rhythmic thunder that rippled through the dawn mist. According to the pre-battle strategic blueprints, the generals moved with practiced, orderly precision, mobilizing the vast army like a great iron serpent uncoiling from its nest.
Zhang Xin stepped down from the elevated commanding platform, his armor clanking softly. Mounting his warhorse, he rode out of the central camp toward the city gates, where the morning sun was just beginning to burn through the fog.
Waiting by the heavy timber gates was Zhang Ning, leading the core family members to see him off.
Stepping forward, young Zhang Ping bowed deeply, his voice crisp but resolute. "I wish Father an early victory and a triumphant return."
"Victory and success, Father!" the other children chimed in, their small voices echoing his sentiment.
Zhang Xin's expression softened. He reached down to gently stroke the children's heads, then shifted his gaze to Zhang Ning. Looking at her heavily rounded belly, a flicker of quiet apology crossed his eyes.
"Sister, it seems I won't be here to see the child born..."
Zhang Ning had conceived last autumn. Now, she was over eight months along, nearly nine. The brilliant physician Hua Tuo had estimated the labor would begin by the end of this month. Given the scale of the impending conflict, it was a certainty that Zhang Xin could not wrap up a campaign of this magnitude within twenty days.
"The great cause demands your presence, Brother. Go without worry," Zhang Ning replied, offering him a warm, reassuring smile. "This isn't my first time. The child is stable, and the household is secure."
Zhang Xin gently cupped her face, then turned his attention to Wang Rou and Han Shu standing just behind her.
During Zhang Ning's pregnancy, Wang Rou's appetite had notably increased, her own form softening. Meanwhile, young Zhang Ding had been sent to Wang Jiao for his upbringing and education; fearing Han Shu might grow lonely in the quiet estate, Zhang Xin had spent much of his recent free time accompanying her. Now, both women were also glowing, roughly four or five months into their own pregnancies.
"Once this war concludes, our home will welcome three more children," Zhang Xin mused, a sudden wave of emotion washing over him. "No wonder the great clans of antiquity boasted such vast lineages."
With multiple wives, there were no empty windows of time; a family could expand vigorously. Fortunately, Zhang Xin harbored no modern notions of family planning. As it stood, he was the only adult male carrying the weight of the Zhang family name. Expanding the lineage wasn't just a personal choice; it was a political necessity.
"I am off," Zhang Xin said, taking a deep breath to steady his mind. He pulled the reins, wheeled his warhorse around, and galloped through the gates without looking back. Now was the time for iron and blood, not the lingering warmth of a gentle embrace.
As the dust clouds kicked up by Zhang Xin's grand army rose into the sky, the intelligence networks of Han Fu and Yuan Shao in Ye City immediately flared to life.
Han Fu's scouts, stationed like tripwires around Pingyuan, moved like streaks of lightning. Relaying messages day and night without a single pause, they covered over five hundred li within twenty-four hours to carry the urgent news back to the provincial capital.
"Lord!"
A breathless scout burst into the grand hall of the State Prefecture, holding a sealed military dispatch high above his head. "Zhang Xin's main force departed their camp yesterday!"
Han Fu snatched the document, his eyes scanning the text frantically.
The report was stark: Zhang Xin's forces had split into two routes. The first, a contingent of roughly twenty thousand men, had marched directly north from Pingyuan, crossing the border into Bohai Commandery. The second route—the main vanguard, boasting a claimed strength of one hundred thousand troops—had briefly skirted the edges of Qinghe State before pivoting southwest, driving straight into Dong Commandery.
"Summon everyone! Immediately!" Han Fu shouted, his voice cracking with anxiety.
Within short order, the prefecture's strategy chamber was packed. Han Fu's core advisors—Ju Shou, Min Chun, and Li Li—sat on one side, while Yuan Shao and his brain trust, including Guo Tu and Pang Ji, occupied the other. To ensure they could react to Zhang Xin at a moment's notice, none of them had returned to their private estates for weeks, living entirely out of the council chambers.
Han Fu passed the dispatch around the table. "Zhang Xin is personally leading a hundred thousand troops straight toward us... What is our move? How do we counter this?" his voice betrayed a deep, underlying panic.
"Calm yourself, Lord," Ju Shou said, setting the report down with a steady hand. "This so-called 'hundred thousand' is almost certainly a psychological ploy."
He gestured to a map on the table. "According to our prior intelligence, the total mobilization capacity of the entire Qing Province doesn't even reach one hundred thousand. Furthermore, Zhang Xin has detached twenty thousand to go north, and he must leave a sizable garrison behind to secure his home front against Tao Qian. In my estimation, the force currently entering Dong Commandery is at most thirty to fifty thousand men. No more."
Hearing this, the tight knot in Han Fu's chest loosened slightly.
According to the defensive master plan drawn up by Pang Ji, they had anticipated Zhang Xin would either contest Qinghe State to strike at Qingyuan, or borrow a path through Dong Commandery to launch an assault on Wei County.
By choosing the latter, Zhang Xin had clearly seen through Pang Ji's territorial traps and chosen to bypass the burden of fighting through Qinghe.
Had it truly been a hundred thousand men descending on Wei County, Han Fu would have abandoned the perimeter entirely, pulling all forces back to entrench within the massive walls of Ye City. But thirty to fifty thousand? That changed the calculus.
With Zhao Fu and Cheng Huan holding Wei County firmly with thirty thousand seasoned troops, and the elite units of Yan Liang and Wen Chou providing twenty thousand mobile reinforcements nearby, they had a solid anvil. Combined with the garrison at Ye City ready to march, they could easily execute a devastating three-pronged pincer movement against Zhang Xin's flank.
The match was not entirely unwinnable.
After a tense round of deliberations, Han Fu ordered Zhao Fu and Yan Liang to push their scouting perimeters even further south to track the enemy's exact coordinates. For now, they could only wait. Their defensive lines were set; Han Fu dared not proactively send an army into Dong Commandery to intercept Zhang Xin. Dong Commandery belonged to Sun Jian's sphere of influence—triggering a war with the "Tiger of Jiangdong" right now would be committing political suicide.
"Report!"
Another scout slammed through the doors, covered in grime. "Lord! The Black Mountain Yellow Turbans have mobilized in force! They have split into two routes—one has breached Fushui Pass to assault Wu'an, while the other has poured out of Jingxing and entered Changshan State!"
Ju Shou leaned forward sharply. "Are there any signs of the Black Mountain bandits near Chaoge?"
The scout shook his head. "No reports from that sector yet."
"How is the situation at Wu'an?" Han Fu demanded, his knuckles turning white against the armrest.
"General Zhang He is holding firm," the scout replied. "The enemy has been unable to breach his lines."
"Good. You are dismissed," Han Fu breathed a heavy sigh of relief.
It was no surprise that the Black Mountain bandits were moving in tandem with Zhang Xin's deployment. When descending from their mountain strongholds, the bandits traditionally utilized three primary arteries.
The southernmost was Baixing, which opened directly into Chaoge County within Henan Commandery—a mere hundred li south of Ye City. Though critical, Han Fu had purposely left it ungarrisoned. The local warlord, Zhang Yang, had repeatedly rejected Han Fu's diplomatic overtures, yet he had also shown no inclination to align with Zhang Xin.
Furthermore, when the Xiongnu chieftain Yufuro had previously defected to Han Fu's side, Zhang Yang had expressed severe displeasure. Had Han Fu marched an army into Zhang Yang's territory under the guise of 'garrisoning' it, it might have pushed the man right into Zhang Xin's arms.
Trapped in a diplomatic minefield, Han Fu had instead positioned his general, Qu Yi, to garrison Liyang, just east of Chaoge. If the Black Mountain bandits attempted a breakthrough via Baixing, Qu Yi could quickly march intercepting forces to cut them off.
The central artery was Fushui Pass, exiting directly into Wu'an County—just sixty li northwest of Ye City. Because of its terrifying proximity to his capital, Han Fu had long since deployed his most capable commander, Zhang He, to lock it down. The terrain there was a natural choke point, framed by sheer cliffs with only a narrow road carved out by the Fushui River. Against the poorly equipped and disorganized Black Mountain hordes, Zhang He's defense was practically ironclad.
As for the northern artery at Jingxing, Han Fu had intentionally ignored it.
First, Jingxing sat over four hundred and fifty li away from Ye City—far beyond his logistical reach. Second, the fate of the Ji Province campaign would not be decided by the shifting borders of the northern commanderies. It would be decided here, by whether they could break Zhang Xin's main army.
If they repelled Zhang Xin, the Black Mountain bandits would naturally retreat back into their caves once their raiding concluded, and the northern territories would fall back into Han Fu's lap. If they lost, the entirety of Ji Province would fall to Zhang Xin anyway, making the northern borders irrelevant.
Thus, Han Fu's entire strategy was a concentrated defensive web tightly woven around Wei Commandery, Qinghe State, Julu Commandery, and Zhao State. As for Changshan, Zhongshan, Hejian, Anping, and Bohai... he was content to let the bandits roam them for now.
The next day, urgent reports confirmed that Zhang Xin's vanguard had swept through Liaocheng.
On the third day, panic spiked as scouts reported the enemy had reached Dong Wuyang.
Han Fu frantically gathered his council once more. From Dong Wuyang to Wei County was a mere hundred li—a single day's forced march. Zhang Xin could strike at their gates at any moment.
"Report!"
Midway through the frantic debate, the heavy doors of the prefecture were thrown open. A scout stumbled into the hall, his face pale with sheer terror, his voice trembling so violently he could barely articulate the words.
"Lord! Zhang Xin's elite cavalry bypassed our frontlines entirely! They launched a devastating surprise raid on Liyang!"
The chamber went deathly silent.
The scout swallowed hard, tears of panic blurring his vision. "General Qu Yi... has defected. He has opened the gates and surrendered to the enemy!"